* - Why not Matsuzaka for AL ROY? I predict AL award voters age-discriminate against Matsuzaka (particularly factoring in a backlash after they must give him the Cy).

Give out your own awards in the Comments.

MLB Wrap: Break up the Nats! 9th-inninng rally gives DC their first win of the season (in a season where wins are expected to be few and far between).

Crushing the Cards (again) may not be much solace for the Mets from last year's NLCS disappointment, but it might foreshadow better times for the Mets THIS season.

Stud (hitter): Grady SizemoreStud (pitcher): Ted Lilly

Bonds hits HR No. 1 of '07. 'Nuff said.

Extra Innings to stay on cable: Fans win! Fans win! In a nice bit of common sense in action, MLB will keep "Extra Innings" available to cable subscribers. (Now: All those fans who were griping BETTER pony up and buy the thing.)

Kudos to Ken Griffey for planning to wear Jackie Robinson's 42 jersey on the anniversary of Robinson's entry into the majors. And kudos to MLB for extending the offer to every team. Which players will step up? (At least one MANAGER will: Willie Randolph will wear 42, too.)

Via sports-media guru Richard Deitsch of SI.com, TBS has signed Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn to be part of their broadcast team. This is a fantastic move -- star power AND solid analysis. I'm totally curious how Ripken will do.

Masters: As usual, the key question is "Tiger or the Field?"

The pick: Usually, I take "The Field" (with no dis meant against Tiger), but given Tiger's pending fatherhood and his imminent Varsity Dad status, I think this year I'm going to go with the dad-to-be.

(Wow: Was it really 10 years ago that Tiger won his first Masters in that dominating style? I would argue that golf's current era began that weekend, even though Tiger was a pro before.)

NBA: Gilbert Arenas injures knee in the ultimate karmic boomerang. Any season that began as stunningly well as his did would HAVE to end miserably, right? It's just the Wizards Way. Given the fact it suddenly looks like the Wiz won't get out of the first round of the playoffs, can they trade their playoff spot to a Lottery team in the East in exchange for a better draft pick?

(Meanwhile, promising Blazers rookie LaMarcus Aldridge is out indefinitely with some weird kind of heart issue. He was looking really good in March; let's hope he's OK for the long-term.)

NBA Draft Watch: In what might have been called "The Durant Game," the Celtics proved more interested in their draft status than winning the game against their bottom-feeding rival, the Bucks. More power (and Ping-Pong balls) to Boston. In a head-to-head matchup of the dregs, with perhaps Kevin Durant on the line, winning is losing.

Billy Donovan Watch: He wants some time to "decompress" before making his decision. That doesn't sound like someone who seems 100 percent committed to his current gig. But he hasn't heard Florida's pitch yet. (Or Kentucky's, for that matter.)

More coaching carousel: Is Bob Huggins going to jump from KansasState to West Virginia? If he did, he sure would be screwing over the players he connived into going there. (Of course, top prepster Michael Beasley would be able to get out of his commitment and, say, re-commit to WVU.)

Women's Hoops: Candace Parker didn't enter the WNBA Draft, and you have to install defending champ Tennessee as the team to beat next season. Will women's hoops get a repeat of their own to rival the men's?

Eddie Robinson, R.I.P.: Hope you've been enjoying all of the columns in appreciation of late Grambling coach Eddie Robinson. After reading everything, I can't believe he wouldn't make everyone's all-time college coach Top 5.

Why would a 26 year old pitcher in his first major league season be so bad as when Nomo won it. Japanese Baseball is similar to a player spending several years in the minors and then get called up to the majors at the age of 24-26.

Along with Eddie Robinson, former Patriots' receiver Daryl Stingley died last night. He was the receiver paralyzed by Jack Tatum's blatant cheap shot, and the main reason why I hate the Raiders with every square inch of my football-loving body.

Candace Parker can't enter the WNBA draft yet. At least, that's what I remember hearing during the title game broadcast. What they were talking about her doing was going overseas for a year (where she could make somewhere around a million dollats) and THEN coming back and entering the WNBA draft.

I would like to see Gordon win the AL ROY as well, but then again I don't. We all know how Carlos Beltran is doing, but I worry that it could be another Bob Hamlin or Angel Berroa. Just another thought on the subject.

The Dodgers don't usually wear names on the back of their home uniforms, right? A bunch of 42s might be a bit confusing without a scorecard.

(Otherwise, Nomar could just sneak into the lineup in 5 different places, assuming you couldn't tell him from the other players.)

Aren't there some college basketball conferences that award a "newcomer" of the year, instead of a "freshman" of the year? As to allow transfers to win....This would parallel the idea of whether or not Japanese imports count as "rookies" -- are they freshman, or simply newcomers?

I have to agree I think the ROY is going to come form one of the guys on the d-rays like elijah dukes or d-young(er). Man the Rays have some offensive talent just no pitching. Individual awards are so hard to predict but I think Smoltz is always a decent guess for CY. IF anyone read the elias says today there is a mention of Bobby Cox. It will be a sad day for braves fans when he either retires or god forbid gets fired. After all he has done he deserves the right to go out as he sees fit when that time comes.

Season Surprises -- Bonds doesn't break record, Cubs and Pirates compete for Central Division title (with Brewers close behind), Nats don't lose 100, and I would have said Marlins win 85, but their bullpen sucks.

After the women's championship, Candace Parker was repeatedly asked by reporters at the press conference if she was leaving early. She exasperatedly (if that's a word) responded "no", as she has all season.

Then Trey asked her when her and Pat Summitt were on ESPN. She once again answered an emphatic "no".

The AP article states that the #1 pick in the WNBA draft became meaningless when Parker decided to stay in school.

So, by all accounts, she could have left and played in the WNBA this summer.

D-Rays have some good pitching prospects in their farm system, and will probably get top pick David Price out of Vandy, who could probably hit the majors by late '08 or '09. But Jeff Niemann is a big, 6'9 RHP with a good fastball and slider. D-Rays also have a few studs in Hi-A ball who could go either way, but have a lot of upside.

Moment of silence for the GPD officer who died yesterday after being hit by a drunk driver in the waning hours of the Gators' Championship celebration early Tuesday morning.

It's a shame that this idiot did something so stupid on a night that was supposed to be about celebrating and having a good time. His charges should be upgraded to DUI manslaughter now, which could get him 30 years, every day of which he deserves.

Parker could have made herself elligible this year due to a loophole in the early entry rule. Appearantly, you can declare early if you are scheduled to graduate in the same calendar year as the draft. So, if she could fit the remander of her classes in by the end of Dec. she could have went.

The 4 Florida Junior are going to have a press conference at 4:00 PM today. What are the chances they annouce they are coming back because Donovan is and they want to be the first team since UCLA to win 3 straight titles?

If the Gators do come back, I will prolly not watch any CBB next year that involve the whiney brats, I mean Florida Gators.

I'm ok with people hating Joakim Noah. But have you even watched Florida Basketball? If Noah weren't on this team, they would be universally praised as humble, unselfish, and intelligent guys. I just don't get the need to tear people down, a need that a surprising number of people seem to have toward this Gator team.

Ok, so I was a little broad in my complaint. All of them are fine upstanding players, but there are a couple that are whiny. Brewer acts like he is entitled to everything. Noah acts like a tool. Hordford, Green, and Humpry are nothing like those two. I will rephrase what I said into those two are whiny brats.

Noah is the worst, and you're right that I don't think anyone really hates Horford or Green... not sure about Brewer, as he does have that look of disbelief and throws his [14 foot long] arms up in the air whenever a call goes against him.

Would definitely not use the word intelligent to describe Lee Humphrey though...

I hate Bonds. He stands for all that is wrong in professional sports. He'll get his someday. Unfortunately it will be after he breaks the HR record.

Is it bad of me to wish a pitcher would've drilled him in the ear hole before passing Babe Ruth?

Can we start a petition for tshirthell.com to start selling the "Barry Takes it in the Ass" tees again.

Here's how I plan on protesting Bonds. I picked him up in my fantasy league after dropping Liraino. Bonds will be riding the pine all year. I know, it's not going to help my team, but I can't do anything to the jackass.

While I'm obviously more interested in seeing how Daisuke pitches today, the Zach Greinke story is also pretty incredible. You really have to hope a guy like that does well after all his off-the-field personal troubles last year.

That's not true. The Cubs feed is providing the game in Cincy today. I really think MLB.com tries to do some of everyone's.....but in this case, the announcing crew that knows the most about Dice would be the better choice.

Good question then. I watched about 40 Cubs games on mlb.tv last year and I could have sworn they always used the home team's feed. But you're right, the Cubs feed is the one today. In that case, they should definitely be using Red Sox guys for the Dice-K game.

I bet the satellite radio uses all the feeds....MLB's website allows you to pick home/away, and home/away Spanish, if you want.

It's only the video feed that's one and one only. Sometimes it's the ESPN feed, too.

The worst part is that they seem to be again, blocking out the local commercials.

I think feeds from the Cubs/Sox/Yanks are more prevalent simply because they televise every game for their teams. I've watched games on mlb.tv where all you get is the diamond vision feed and a radio broadcast at the same time. No graphics to remind you of count/inning, etc.

1. Walker- still rehabing his knee injury. Could transfer but would have to sit a year. Could turn pro, but I believe he would have to fight the process because he graduated HS in October so he could play for KState second semester.

2. Beasley- Could follow Huggins without sitting, IF Kstate releases him from the scholarship.

Bob Huggins was actually born in Morgantown and played point guard for West Virgina from 75-77. After he graduated and didn't make the NBA he went back to West Virgina and got his Masters while also being a graduate assistant.

I'm not sure K-State has to release him. I thought that if the coach leaves you are allowed to leave if you want, hence the Jai Lucas situation where he was committed to Kentucky and when Tubby left he was released.

Not sure Green is talented enough to make it in the NBA. Surprised he'd go pro. The others obviously not surprised at all.

Green rooms with the other three juniors. They do pretty much everything together and have said that if one goes they all go, if one stays they all stay.

Plus, there is really no reason to think his draft stock will be any higher after another year in college. He's managed to become fairly overrated as a point guard and I can't imagine him looking any more impressive next year.

Still, he's a better PG prospect than Roberson and is a much better player than Matt Walsh. It might be a good idea for him to not hire an agent just in case, but the 04's came back to do just what they did, and to do it together. Since he's probably not going to improve his stock any, now's as good a time as any for Green to get out.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.